A Cabbagetown residents’ fight to save publicly-owned heritage buildings has raised bigger questions about how public-housing money should be spent in Toronto.

Residents of the heritage district spent the afternoon lobbying the Housing Committee to prioritize repairs for 50 publicly-owned properties in their neighbourhood. Most of the properties, many of which serve as communal housing, have fallen into disrepair.

Many of the homes suffer from water damage and wood rot. One home on Prospect Street was damaged by fire five years ago and has yet to be repaired.

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Committee members, however, said they must balance spending throughout the city.

Lasia Kretzel/National Post

City councillor Ana Bailao (Davenport) said that while repairs are necessary, it is not within the Housing Committee’s mandate to preserve heritage buildings.

“We’re going to have to make a choice because how do you find the money to invest thousands and thousands of dollars for these 50 homes?” Ms. Bailao said. “How do you justify that when you have 80,000 people on a waiting list, when you have people that are living in deplorable conditions in some of the condo units that we have all over the city?”

Housing Committee chair Bud Purves said funds for repairs and capital projects must be equitably spread across the city.

“How do you equitably treat all the citizens across Toronto, how do you respect the tax payers and how do you look after special cases?” Mr. Purves said.

The group of residents said that while they do not have any official solutions to the money problem, they hope their actions have at least highlighted the need for housing repairs in their area.

“They’re part of our history, they’re part of our city building. This is out history. If we lose it, it’s gone.” Cabbagetown Heritage Conservation Committee board member and former chair Rick Hall said. ”We wish we had some was to say fund it this way but we don’t have the answer for that.”

Lasia Kretzel/National Post

The message, despite its lack of solutions, seemed to resonate with committee members.

“They raise a good issue,” Mr. Purves said. “They don’t have a solution but they’re raising the visibility of that issue.”

Resident and architect Scott Weir said the district committee hopes the housing committee will develop a heritage home policy in order to maintain publicly owned heritage properties. Mr. Weir said many of the heritage homes in the area have failed to keep with the area’s Victorian heritage style.

Mr. Hall said the group would not advocate the sale of the properties.

The average cost of repairs for each home in Cabbagetown is estimated at $11,000, Mr. Hall said. He said the combined worth of the homes is estimated at $30 million.

The housing committee said it will take the suggestions presented at the open forum into consideration as it prepares its annual report.

The Committee will present its recommendations to city council in September.

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